Rope turning device



Nov. 20, 1962 s. FEINN ROPE TURNING DEVICE Filed May 17, 1960 O A y. 52. l mw f n 6 y ET H. H IIT HM 3 3fm, .E 3 75 6 5 5 2 5 n i E 2 Z hi\\\\\\\\x /lf 2 l V W m .E 5

United States This invention relates to a rope turning device adapted torotate a pair of ropes simultaneously in opposite directions about acommon axis in approximately coincidental circular paths as it ismanipulated by a person jumping or skipping between the ropes as theyswing under his feet and above his head.

ln accordance with the present invention, a throwing arm is rigidlyfixed to each outer end of a shaft. The throwing arms are preferablymolded of suitable plastic material, but may be made of any suitablematerial. Each arm has an integral inwardly extending housing sectionhaving an aperture adapted to receive the shaft, and an integral ringrear concentrically disposed relative to the aperture. A tubular sleevetting on the shaft and fixed thereto terminates adjacent the face of thehousing on which the ring gear is formed.

A throwing arm is rotatably mounted on leach end of the sleeve adjacenteach of the arms xed to the shaft. These last mentioned throwing armsare reversed relative to the adjacent arms, and each of them is heldagainst lateral displacement by a suitable washer. The housing sectionsof adjacent throwing arms are juxtaposed to form a complete housing withthe ring gears facing each other in spaced relationship.

A gear supporting member rotatably mounted on the tubular sleeve in eachhousing carries a plurality of pinion gears meshed with both ring gears.The pinion gears are rotatably mounted on shafts that are xed to thegear supporting member in any suitable manner. in the drawings eachshaft fits in a recess in the gear supporting member and is securedthereto by a transverse pin. The gear supporting member is shown in theform of a block, preferably made of a plastic material, but may be inthe form of a spider.

As shown The ropes are preferably made of a plastic material and arecapable of holding their shape to a substantial extent. The ropeconnected to the outer throwing arms is slightly longer than the otherrope to provide clearance when the ropes are being turned in oppositedirections. One of the ropes is preferably tubular, and is at leastpartially filled with buckshot to provide added weight. lf neither ropeis tubular, the extra weight may be added to one of the ropes or to thearms to which one rope is secured, in any suitable manner.

Two hand grips are loosely mounted on the tubular sleeve so that whenthey are held in the operators hands and moved rapidly in anapproximately circular motion, the outer throwing arms are both rotatedwith the shaft to impart a circular motion to the outer rope. When theouter rope is turned in one direction, the pinion gears rotate the innerarms, and the rope secured thereto, in the .opposite direction.

The structure by means of which the above-mentioned and other advantagesof the invention are attained will be described in the followingspecification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,showing a preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention, in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view showing the operation of a rope skippingdevice embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional View, showing theinterengagement of the gears at one end of the device;

HG. 3 is a cross sectional view, taken along the line 3-3 of FlG. 2;

FlG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of one end of the device; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view, taken along the line 5--5 of FIG.4.

Referring to the drawings, the device comprises a tubular sleeve 2fitting on a shaft 3 and secured thereto by a pin 4 at each end. Shaft 3projects beyond each end of sleeve 2 for a purpose hereinafterdisclosed. Two hand grips 5 are loosely mounted on tubular sleeve 2. Thehand grips are slidable on the sleeve so that the operator may hold themcomfortably as he skips the ropes.

The rope turning mechanism is identical at both ends of the device, and,therefore, only one end of the structure will be described. A throwingarm 6, provided at one end with a housing section 7, is mounted on shaft3, and is secured thereto by a screw 8. The screw extends through a hole9 in shaft 3 to position the throwing arm with the inner face it? ofhousing section 7 spaced slightly from the end of tubular sleeve 2.. Theinner face 10 of housing section 7 is provided with a beveled ring gear11 that is concentric with respect to shaft 3. An annular flange 3.2extends around the perimeter of housing section 7 and projects slightlybeyond the inner face 1t). I A throwing arm 13, similar to throwing arm6, is rotatably mounted on tubular sleeve 2. A housing section 14,integral with arm 13, is provided with a ring gear l5 and an annularflange 16. The outer edge of flange 16 is spaced from the inner edge ofiiange l2 to provide clearancey therebetween so that the housingsections may be rotated in opposite directions. Arm 13 is held againstlateral displacement, with ring gears 11 and 15 spaced in predeterminedrelationship, by a lock washer 17. The lock washer cooperates withsleeve 2 and does not interfere with the rotation of throwing arm 13.

Housing sections 7 and 14 cooperate to form a complete housing, and agear supporting member 18 is rotatably mounted on tubular sleeve 2within the housing. The gear supporting member 18 may be in anydesirable form such as a block or a spider, for example. A plurality ofpinion gears 19 project outwardly from the perimeter of gear supportingmember 18 and are meshed with ring gears 11 and l5. Each gear 19 isrotatably mounted on a shaft Ztl fitting in a recess 2l in the gearsupporting member and secured thereto by a pin 22. As arm 6 is rotatedin one direction the gears 19 rotate arm 13 in the opposite direction.

A tubular plastic rope 23 is secured at each end to arm 6 by a connectorsleeve 24 secured to one end of a pin 25 that is secured at its otherend in a recess 26 in arm 6. Pin 25 is secured to arm 6 by a pin 27 orin any other suitable manner. It will be understood that the end of rope23 may be secured directly to arm 6, if desired. A plastic rope 28 issecured at each end to one of the arms 13. Rope 23 is at least partiallyfilled with buckshot 29 to provide extra weight for the rotatable unitcomprising rope 23 and both arms 6. This extra weight, above the weightofthe unit comprising rope 28 and both arms 13, insures sufficient forceto rotate arms 13 and rope 28 in the opposite direction from therotation of arms 6 and rope 23.

Although tubular plastic rope is preferably secured to arms 6, any ropemay be used, and the added weight may be provided in any suitablemanner. For example, arms 6 may be heavier than arms 13. Rope 23 islonger than rope 2S to provide clearance between the ropes when they areturned in opposite directions. It will be understood that the extraweight may be added to the unit comprising rope 28 and arms 13, insteadof to the unit comprising rope 23 and arms 6, if desired.

When the device is to beused, the operator adjusts its position so thatwhen arms 6 and 13 extend at an angle of to each other said arms are invertical position. Such positioning insures that ropes 23 and 28 willpass their lowermost position at equally spaced intervals and the ropejumping or skipping is evenly timed. The rope jumping or skipping isalso evenly timed if the arms are horizontally disposed when they extendat 180 to each other, but in such case the device gives the effect of asingle rope,since both ropes reach their lowermost positionsimultaneously. Any other disposition of the arms causes unequal jumpingintervals'.

In using the device, the operator places one hand on each hand grip 5and holds shaft 3 forwardly of his body in approximately horizontalposition. The shaft is pushed forwardly with a rapid, approximatelycircular motion to start the` rotation of arms 6 about the shaft as anaxis. This motion simultaneously starts the rotation of arms 13:v aboutthe shaft in the opposite direction through the intereng'agement ofgears 11, 15 and 19. The operator may provide added thrust by pushingone pair of throwing arms with his thumbs at the start of theapproximately circular movement of the shaft, to facilitate the start ofthe rotation of the throwing arms about the shaft. The continuous,approximately circular movement of shaft 3 is suflicient to keep arms 6and 13 rotating in opposite directions.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of the invention inconsiderable detail, it will be understood that the description thereofis intended to be illustrative, rather than restrictive, as many detailsof structure may be modified or changed, without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, I do not desire to berestricted to the exact construction described.

-I claim:

1. In a rope turning device, a shaft, an arm rigidly secured thereto, arope having one end secured to said arm, a second arm juxtaposed againstsaid first mentioned arm, a second rope havingone end secured to saidsecond arm, a ring gear integral with each of said arms, said ring gearsfacing each other, means holding said second arm against lateraldisplacement relative to said irst arm, and a pinion gear in engagementwith both of said ring gears, said pinion gear being adapted to rotateone of said armsvin one direction whereby the rope secured to said onelarm is turned in said one direction when said other arm is rotated inthe opposite direction and said other rope is turned with said otherarm.

2. In a rope turning device, a shaft, an arm rigidly secured thereto, arope having one end secured to said arm, a second arm rotatably mountedrelative to said shaft, a second rope having one end secured to saidsecond arm, a ring gear integral with each of said arms, means` holdingsaid second arm against lateral displacement with said ring gears facingeach other, a gear supporting member mounted between said ring gears,said gear supporting member being rotatable relative to said shaft, Vanda pinion gear rigidly secured to said gear supporting member forengagement with both of said ring gears, whereby rotation of either ofsaid arms will cause rotation of said other arm in the oppositedirection, with eachof said ropes turning in the direction of rotationof the arm to which it is secured.

3. A rope turning device comprising a shaft, a tubular sleeve tted onsaid shaft intermediate its ends, a throwing larm rigidly secured tosaid shaft adjacent each end thereof, a, rope having each end thereofsecured to one of said arms, a throwing arm rotatably mounted on saidtubular sleeve adjacent each end thereof, a second rope having each endsecured to one of said second mentioned rms, means holding each of saidsecond mentioned arms juxtaposed against one of said rst mentioned arms,a housing section integral with each of said arms, a ring gear in eachof said housing sections, and a pinion gear in engagement with both ringgears in adjacent housing sections, whereby rapid movement of said shaftin an approximately circular path will cause rotational movement of saidropes in opposite directions about said shaft as an axis.

4. A rope turning device comprising a shaft, a tubular sleeve fitted onsaid shaft intermediate its ends, a throwing arm rigidly secured to saidshaft adjacent each end thereof, a rope having each end thereof securedto one of said arms, a throwing arm rotatably mounted on said tubularsleeve adjacent each end thereof, a second rope having each end securedto one of said second mentioned arms, a housing section integral witheach of said arms, each of said housing sections having a peripheralange, the housing section of each of said arms cooperating with thehousing section of the juxtaposed arm to form a housing, means holdingeach of said second mentioned arms juxtaposed against one of said firstmentioned arms with the peripheral flanges of adjacent housing sectionsspaced to provide sufficient clearance to permit rotation of saidadjacent housing sections in opposite directions, a ring gear in each ofsaid housing sections, and a pinion gear rotatably mounted in each ofsaid housings, each of said pinion gears engaging both ring gears in itshousing, whereby rapid movement of said shaft in an aapproximatelycircular path will cause rotational movement of said ropes in oppositedirections about said shaft as an axis.

5. A rope turning device comprising a shaft, a tubular sleeve fitted onsaid shaft intermediate its ends, a throwing arm rigidly secured to saidshaft adjacent each end thereof, a rope having each end thereof securedto one of said arms,` a throwing arm rotatably mounted on said tubularsleeve adjacent each end thereof, a second rope having each end securedto one of said second mentioned arms, means holding each of said secondmentioned arms juxtaposed against one of said first mentioned arms, ahousing section integral with each of said arms, the housing section ofeach of said arms cooperating with the housing section of the juxtaposedarm to form a housing, a ring gear in each of said housing sections, apinion gear rotatably mounted in each of said housings, each of saidpinion gears engaging both ring gears in its housing, wherebyrrapidmovement of said shaft in an approximately circular path will causerotational movement of said ropes in opposite directions about saidshaft as an axis, and a pair of hand grips rotatably mounted on saidtubular sleeve between said second mentionedy arm-s to facilitaterotational movement of said shaft, and the first mentioned arms rigidlysecured thereto, when said shaft is moved in an approximately circularpath.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,893,173 Kreutzer Jan. 3, 1933 2,795,424 Fitzpatrick Iune'll, 19572,942,881 Recalma June 28, 1960

